Airborne 12.09.16

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Airborne 12.09.16

Marines Using 5-Foot Long Aircraft To Hunt Iraqi
Insurgents

You carry it around in a kit that looks suspiciously like a golf
bag. When you need it, you can launch it by simply turning it on
and throwing it into the air. It's an unmanned aerial vehicle of
the personal variety and soon, American Marines in Iraq will be
able to use them to spot insurgent troop movements as much as 10
miles away.

"This is a great idea, a simple technology that we can quickly
field," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington
Institute, in an interview with USA Today. "For the grunt on the
ground, these airplanes will allow troops to look around corners
and in places where no human being should go without first knowing
what is there."

The UAV, made by Advanced Ceramics Research in Tucson (AZ), is
gas-powered. It can fly up to 10 miles away from the laptop
computer that controls it. The military has tested prototypes in
Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, the Silver Fox appears ready for prime
time.

What's extremely valuable about the Silver Fox is its low cost
and ready assembly. Each Silver Fox weighs just 22 pounds and --
right now -- costs about $50,000. But the Navy hopes, by the time
the UAV is in full production, it will cost around $20,000.